▪ I. ned1 Sc. slang.
(nɛd)
[? f. Ned, a familiar abbrev. of the name Edward; cf. Teddy boy.]
Hooligan, thug, petty criminal. Also used as a general term of disapprobation.
| 1959 Times 18 Dec. 5/3 He can..give gloriously funny imitations of Glasgow charwomen, tram drivers, and neds. 1964 B. Gaston Drifting Death iv. 57 Lomax..was a tuppeny-ha'penny little ned, not even attached to one of the big mobs. 1968 H. C. Rae Few Small Bones ii. i. 71 Even the bloody neds from the newspapers were getting critical with their wisecracks. 1969 B. Knox Tallyman ii. 21 Millside had the worst pockets of unemployed and unemployable,..and some of the toughest hooligan ‘neds’ in the city [sc. Glasgow]. 1971 ― To kill a Witch i. 10 Most were neds, the city's [sc. Glasgow's] verbal shorthand for petty thugs, second-rate criminals and professional layabouts. 1973 P. Malloch Kickback xvi. 100 He was a ned. You could always spot them. There was something about them that no trained policeman would ever miss. |
▪ II. ned
obs. form of need n. and v.